Thursday, September 26, 2013

I'm getting ready to have my very first Den meeting for my Bear Cub Scouts!

I found these 1" inch white binders (in picture above) at Target for only .90 cents =D I made the cover (pictured on the left). These will folders will be given to my Scout parents. Inside has a list of our den, information on uniforms and where to put the patches, year events calendar and our October newsletter that I made up. (I will be posting this so stay tuned!)

Here are forms that I created that are in my leader binder.

This is an activity sheet that I have for my Bear cubs to fill out at our first meeting. I will be hanging onto these as the first page to our scrapbook. I will be making a scrapbook for each cub that I will give to them at the end of their scout year as a gift.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Despicable Me 2 Bento Lunch

I was browsing my local Safeway store and found these CUTE theme cheese sticks and I was so excited! Included in the pack is cheese sticks with Spiderman, Transformers, these cute minons from Despicable Me and many more cool boy themes! Check out your grocery store and be on the look out for these cuties!

Today's Bento lunch includes:

Plain bagel with cream cheese (cream cheese is in the round container)

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

If you are like me and volunteered to be a Den Leader and not knowing WHERE to start and NOT a CLUE I hope this answers many questions for you and helps you on your way!

Cub Scouting 101

Organization:

The Den and the den meeting

All cub scouts belong to a den which is a group of boys the same age. The den typically has around 8-10 boys. The den is giving a den # to identify your group. My den is Den#3. As part of a den, your cub scout will attend meetings to work on completing requirements while learning about a monthly core value theme.The meetings can be once a week, bi-weekly or monthly. It all is determined by the den leader. My preference for meetings will to meet bi-weekly. I figure to get all the work done in achieving our badges, electives and awards for this school year, this is what it will take.

One of the aims of Scouting is character development. In the Cub Scouting program, character development is emphasized through twelve core values.

You can plan your den meetings to participate in activities to complete your requirements while also learning about the monthly core value theme. These 12 values are incorporated in the months of the year as follows :

January: Positive Attitude

February: Resourcefulness

March: Compassion

April: Faith

May: Health and Fitness

June: Perseverance

July: Courage

August: Honesty

September: Cooperation

October: Responsibility

November: Citizenship

December: Respect

Dens also usually go on an "outing" either once a month but again this is determined by the den leader. For my den I have decided an outing once a month. So as I mentioned the den is determined by the boy's age:

Tigers: First Grade or age 6 although in our area my youngest son Ian started out as a Tiger at age 5 in kindergarten. Before 1st grade however they "officially" can't earn badges but they can wear a uniform and participate in their den's activities. Once they become 1st graders they are a tiger cub that can start earning badges.

Wolf: 2nd Grade boys

Bear: 3rd Grade boys

Webelos: 4th and 5th Graders

THEN

hooray Boy Scouts!

Boy Scouts: Boys ages 11-17, or have earned the Cub Scouting Arrow of Light Award and are at least 10 years old

There will be several dens in your local area or school and together all these dens in your local area belong to a PACK

The Pack and the pack meeting

Our Pack is 571. The pack meets once a month and families of the scout is very much encouraged to attend. Families will be apart of participating with their scout in activities and projects. The families will also be there to celebrate with their scout on awards they have earned that month. Pack meetings will also include songs, skits, ceremonies and to get informed on upcoming events. Having the scouts family attend with him really helps with receiving ongoing encouragement and support in pursuing his goals. The family is a key factor in helping the cub to become not only a successful Scout, but a successful man in the future.

The Uniform

The uniform is very important in helping the scout feel important and involved. All Scouts are asked to wear a cub scout navy shirt, neckerchief, navy pants either the official navy scout pants or other navy pants. Belt, scarf neckerchief slide and Scout cap. As far as the neckerchief the wolf wears a yellow neckerchief and the bear wears blue. The webelos wear a plaid one.

Tiger Uniform looks like this:

Wolf Uniform looks like this:

Bear Uniform looks like this:

Webelos Uniform looks like this:

Basic patches to start off with on your uniform shirt:

* unit number of your pack (in red number patches)

*American Flag

*Den#

*Council shoulder patch (we are the Seattle Council)

* World Crest

Here is a diagram to show you how the badge placement is on the pocket and sleeve of the Cub shirt...

also pictured is how you roll the neckerchief before wearing it. The 6" length of the angle neckerchief is worn in the back and the ties go in the front held by the scarf neckerchief slide. The neckerchief in front of Uniform will look like this positioned with the slide.

Your cub after achieving his rank patch ( my younger will be working towards tiger and my older will be working for the bear patch achievements) then they have the opportunity to earn other patches, arrow points and patches for special awards such as "Leave No Trace Behind" and the "World Conservation Award"

Where do you put all the additional patches earned? Our pack purchases a red vest (optional) to display them but it is up to the Scout's family how they want to display them. I have seen them on a blanket or hung on a wall display. Here is what our red vest looks like:

The Handbook and AdvancementEach den rank uses a separate handbook so there is a different handbook for each of the Tiger, Wolf, Bear and Weblos. The den uses this handbook to accomplish the requirements they need in order to earn their rank. The very first thing that a Cub Scout needs to do is to earn his Bobcat rank Award. This can be done at home with the scout's family. To earn it he must fulfill 8 requirements, which mainly consist of learning and memorizing the Cub Scout motto, promise, law, handshake, salute, and sign. The other major part is having a sit-down discussion with his parents about safety and abuse. The handbooks have a small, removable booklet to help you lead this discussion.

Signing Off

In your son's handbook, there are a lot of fun things he can do. At the bottom of each is a space for "Akela's OK," which is "parent's and den leader's signature." After your son has completed something to the best of his ability, the parent may sign their name to show that he has finished and then let you the den leader sign as well so you can record it in your records. What is an Akela? Akela is anyone who is a leader to the Scout whether that is his parent, den leader, cubmaster or a teacher.

Year Events

The pack, including families, also participates in other special events throughout the year, including:

Pinewood derby®—You can build and race a model car with your son.

Blue and gold banquet—Cub Scouting’s birthday party—for all pack members

and their families—in February.

Rain boat Regatta

Water Bottle Rockets

Camping—Overnight and day camp opportunities introduce your family to the

camping experience.

Service projects—Packs may participate in food drives, conservation projects, or other community activities.DO YOUR BEST =D and have FUN!!!

Sunday, September 8, 2013

I'm getting so excited to start this new adventure as a Cub Scout den leader this month! I'm excited about helping to be apart of enriching the lives of boys and hoping to make a difference in the kind of men they will become.I have volunteered to be the Cub Scout leader for my son Jayden's den. He is a big 3rd grader this year and is a Bear cub. My youngest son Ian is a first grader as a Tiger cub. I wanted to share with you my welcome letter I sent to all the previous year's Cub Scout families welcoming them back to scouting as we start off this new school year!

For all you Cub Scout leaders out there this would be a great idea to send this letter out as the boys start their new school year. I heard that the Scout Service Center received many calls from parents who didn't know that their school's Cub Scouts started. This letter I hope solve that problem and thought it would help you create yours.

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to Cub Scouts! We welcome all of you back this fall! My name is xxxxxxxx. I am excited to announce that I have stepped up to become our new Den leader!

I would like to set up a day and time that would work for our den meetings and wanted to get your feedback. I plan to have our den meet twice a month. I would like to put out the idea of having our meeting on xxxxx evenings at xxxxpm. Please let me know if this is a good date and time and then I can make arrangements with ( place where meeting will be held) for our meetings to take place there. If this day and time works, I can request a reservation for our first den meeting to be held on xxxxxx at xxxxpm. This first den meeting will serve as an orientation for everyone on how den meetings will be run and upcoming events. Refreshments will be served.

I have always liked the idea of having at least one big group event every 6-8 weeks during the scouting year, be it a bike trip, camping or a hike. I will be planning some fun activities at different parks and local sites of interest. As a Den, the scouts will gather each month to work on different projects and activities from their Scout books. As a result of these projects and with additional help at home, the Scouts can earn advancements and are subsequently recognized for their accomplishments in front of their peers and families at Pack events.

Uniforms: Make sure that your son has and wears a complete uniform to our meetings (hat, uniform shirt, neckerchief, neckerchief slide, official belt). We ask that boys wear either the official dark blue cub scout pants or shorts OR some other dark blue shorts or pants.

I'm looking forward to a good year, a good group of kids and parents willing to help make this happen. I am looking forward to a wonderful year watching the boys grow in Scouting. If you have any questions, please email me or call me at xxx xxx-xxxx. I am very open to constructive suggestions and comments.

Meet my son Ian on the left who is now a big 1st graderand on the right is my big 3rd grader Jayden

Too cute! Just got back from taking the boys on a "test run" to their schools...because both boys start school at the same time and at two different schools, I had to time our results. So I decided to stick with my routine that works with taking the boys school pictures...today...when the school was empty So here I am thinking I must be the only mom doing this and laughing at myself...HOWEVER I turn around to see cars entering the parking lot...kids jumping out and a mom with a camera in her hands <3